1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cash handling machine such as an automatic transaction machine (subsequently referred to as ATM) operated by means of a cash card and the like, and in particular to such machine into which mixtures of bank notes and coins can be introduced together.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The most recent ATMs are multi-function machines capable of automatic coin handling and were developed to perform the complex function of paying from a simple bank note depositing/withdrawing machine.
These ATMs are provided at their front with one aperture for inserting coins and another aperture for bank notes, so that coins and bank notes are introduced separately.
With the above type of ATM, coins are frequently introduced into the aperture for bank notes. The aperture for introducing coins is, therefore, generally made narrow which makes it difficult to introduce bank notes into it. The aperture for bank notes generally must be able to accommodate bundles of bank notes. Also bank notes must be able to be both accepted by the ATM and issued by the ATM to the customer. Therefore, the aperture for bank notes must be made rather large to facilitate the manual gripping and taking out of money. Thus, when coins are inserted into the wrong aperture, the fact that they are rigid, thick and cannot bend well causes damage to internal components such as the belt and rollers constituting the bank note conveying means or the bank note thickness monitor, which constitutes a serious drawback.